T20 WC: Rashid Khan shows off football skills during AFG vs NZ match; Video goes viral

Afghanistan’s sensational wrist spinner Rashid Khan became one of the talking points of the Afghanistan vs New Zealand T20 World Cup 2021 match on Sunday when he was seen showing his football skills on the pitch. Afghanistan went on to lose the match, as New Zealand cruised to victory by chasing down the below-par target of 125 runs set by the former in the first innings. By winning the match, the Kiwis secured the semifinal berth in the ongoing tournament.

However, during the second innings of the match, Rashid was bowling the 12th over of New Zealand’s chase when Kiwi batter David Conway defended the fifth ball of the over, back towards the bowler. As the ball reached Rashid, he lifted the ball up using his feet and directed it towards the wicketkeeper standing at the other end of the crease. Commentators were quick to praise Rashid for showing off his football skills as he got ready for the run-up to bowl the next ball. The video of Rashid Khan was then uploaded on the official Instagram handle of the T20 World Cup, with the caption, “Rashid Khan X Joga Bonito”. Joga Bonito is a famous football term, which means to play beautifully.

India's semifinal dreams depended upon the result of Afghanistan vs New Zealand

Meanwhile, Rashid returned with the figures of 1/27 after the match as New Zealand went on to clinch their fourth victory of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 campaign. With the win, the Kiwis crushed India’s dream of reaching the semi-finals as they secured the second spot from Group-2 of the Super-12 stage alongside the table-toppers Pakistan. Pakistan is currently in a dream run in the tournament as they managed to win every game in the Super-12 stage. At the same time, India hoped Afghanistan would beat the Kiwis in order to ensure their semifinal prospects, however, as the Kiwis qualified, India failed to reach the semifinals of the T20 tournament for the first time since 2012. However, Team India will play their final league match of the T20 World Cup against Namibia on Monday, which is also the last match of skipper Virat Kohli as the T20I captain of the national team.

(Image: Instagram- @t20worldcup/t20worldcup.com/ICC)